When the battle was conclude, I decided to take a break over by the lake while Xylvia decided to keep training with Xylvia. I knew that my defeat was unavoidable, but I was glad that I was able to give it everything I had.
"At least I kept calm throughout the entire battle," I said to myself. "Leonna's right, that is a huge improvement."
I splashed a bit of water on my face, but when I looked up I saw a figure sitting down on the other side of lake, about four meters away. It was a girl. She short hair that had a green and blue color and her height was really short too, about 148 centimeters tall. Black wings were sprouted from out of her back with red outlines around them and her ears were pointy, kind of like an elves except smaller. She wore a blood red dress with a black pentagram imprinted on it and black leather shoes. She was sitting with her arms around her knees, looking in the distance.
"Who are you?" I asked in a calm tone.
When she looked over at me, she was startled. She quickly got up and started running in an odd way. She was running left and right like she was trying to avoid things, and she reached her hand our and twisted it like she was opening a door.
"H-How did you get in here," she asked frantically. "Who are you?! W-What do you want from me?! Go away! LEAVE ME ALONE!!"
She had a very panicky look on her face. She looked scared.
"Calm down," I said with my hands up. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'll just walk away, ok?"
"How did you get in here?" she asked again.
"Get in where? We're standing at the edge of a lake."
"A lake...? No, you're in my house."
"Huh...?"
I had no idea what she was talking about. I knew that she couldn't have been lying because of the way she was speaking, so I tried to figure this out.
"W-Where do you see me?" the girl asked.
"You're standing at the edge of a lake," I said. "Where do you see me?"
"You're standing in the hallway of my house. I ran outside and left the front door open. I can see you standing there and looking at me."
If what she says is true, then how am I seeing her? How can I see someone that's at an entirely different location?
"Who are you," I asked. "How am I seeing you if you're at your house? What's your name?"
"I'm just as confused as you are," she said. "I don't really know how I'm seeing you either."
"And your name?"
"Uh...um...t-tell me yours first."
Why is she suddenly getting self-conscious all of a sudden. Is her name embarrassing or something?
"My name is Hiro," I said. "Hiro Satomi."
"Hiro...Satomi..." she said to herself. "Ok then.. m-my name is...uh...Shana...AHH!"
After she said her name, she suddenly covered her face with her arms like she was trying to protect herself and crouched down on the floor.
"Hey, are you ok," I asked her a little concerned. "Did I scare you or something?"
She looked up at me with the eyes of a scared little child. She looked like she was confused as well. Then, she uncovered her face and stood back up.
"Y-You're not...angry?" she asked.
"Angry? Why would I be angry at you?"
"Whenever I say my name, people get mad and try to hurt me. I would always either run away or try and protect myself."
"Why would people hurt you because of your name. I think Shana is a nice name."
"Well...some people might've changed after time passed. The truth is...I haven't spoken my name to anyone in hundreds of years."
Hundreds of years? She didn't look any older than thirteen or fourteen, so how was that possible? As far as I know, only gods can live as long as that. And only a few demi-human species can live up to about an average of 170 years, but she said hundreds.
"Umm...exactly how old are you?" I asked.
"I think I'm around...umm...four - no wait - 5274 years old now. My birthday was just a week ago."
THAT'S HER AGE?!! If what she said was true, then she might've been alive even before the war itself started!
"Umm...if you don't mind me asking, what exactly was the world like before the war?" I asked.
"Are...are your eyes ok," she suddenly asked. "They're wide open and they're bulging as well. It's a little creepy."
I saw my reflection on the lake and realized how insane my eyes looked. I guess hearing her age surprised me a lot more than I thought.
"Uhh...ahh...s-sorry," I said as I quickly covered my eyes. "I didn't mean to scare you!"
I thought she was going to run away from me after seeing the look that a psychotic killer gives to their victims, but instead-
"Mmph...hee hee...AHAHAHAHAHAA!" she laughed.
I blushed a little at her sudden action. I was a little embarrassed.
"H-Hey...i-it's...it's not funny!" I stuttered.
"I-If it's...hehe...not funny...ha...then why am I...hahaha...laughing like this...AHAHAHAA!"
She continued laughing for about another minute before she finally collapsed on the floor and tried to catch her breath.
"Hey, Hiro was it," she said. "I think I really like you. How would you feel about being my friend?
"Your...friend?" I said with a headtilt.
For some strange reason, I thought she was actually going to say darling instead of friend. I guess my otaku nature hasn't completely left me yet.
"I've never got to have a friend before," she started. "I've always been discriminated because of my name. Well, at least I was back then anyway. I fled from a place called The Town of Colors and kept running until I found this place."
Did the people in that town chase her out? Why would they do that over someone's name?
"Everyone just kept wanting to hurt me," Shana continued. "When I found this place, I thought that I could finally live a fun life. However, it wasn't fun at all. I was all alone, always by myself with no one to call a mother, a father, a lover, or even a friend. Everyone got to have their own normal lives. Whether it be looking for treasure, manning a shop, or being with their friends and family, they all had their own normal lives. But not me. I didn't get one...because I'm simply not normal..."
She started crying with her hands covering her face. I was at a complete loss for words. Why would people hate her because of the name Shana? Did it translate into something else in this world? I know that the language on this world is different from where I was from, but I've never heard anyone mention the name, or the words nonetheless, Shana before. In fact, when I was summoned into this world I knew the language right off the bat. It was as if I just knew the words, but Shana was a word that I didn't know. It was strange.
"Well...it doesn't matter if you're normal," I said to her. " ln fact, being normal in my opinion is pretty boring. What's wrong with standing out?"
"But...people hate me..." Shana said.
"I don't."
Her eyes widened when I said that. She looked at me with eyes that sparkled a bright purple.
"You don't...hate me?" she asked.
"Why would I hate you? I don't have a reason to, and I don't judge people by their names either. I'll be your friend if you want."
When she smiled, it was a smile that felt warm and happy. I couldn't help but smile back at her. Suddenly, she disappeared into a white mist.
"Shana? Shana, where did you go?"
She vanished into thin air. No traces of her were left to be seen. It was like she was never even there.
"What was that?" I asked myself.